Give-A-Christmas Year Around reminds Tony Rothschild of the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life,” because it confirms that little things can make a big difference.

Rothschild is the executive director of Common Ground, one of the recipients of the Give-A-Christmas fund supported by the generous readers of this newspaper. He says some people who come for crisis services have emergency needs, some of which don’t fit any program.

“It’s hard to measure what the consequences of inaction are, but we can guess,” Rothschild said, mentioning that Give-A-Christmas money had fixed a car’s transmission so a client could get to his job.

Rothschild says he chooses how to spend Give-A-Christmas funds to maximize the effect.

“It’s the only money we have for these kinds of emergencies,” he said.

Jim Perlaki, program director for runaway and homeless youth services at Common Ground’s Sanctuary, A Step Forward and Graduated Apartment programs, manages the Give-A-Christmas money. In addition to emergencies, he uses it for things not allowed by the agency’s contracts and grants.

Clients graduating from high school have been helped to purchase yearbooks, caps and gowns. Obtaining personal identity documents like birth certificates and driver’s licenses are crucial for them to get a job.

“We’ve purchased clothing for job interviews and uniforms when the job is secured,” Perlaki said. “We even occasionally buy a birthday present, so it feels like they have a birthday, even though they aren’t living with their family.”

“Christmas gifts are donated, but what happens in April or June? We definitely stretch the Give-A-Christmas money a long way and we’re really grateful.”

“We’re honored and proud to have been a Give-A-Christmas recipient for so many years,” Rothschild said.

One hundred percent of all donations to Give-A-Christmas Year Around help those in need in Oakland County. In addition to Common Ground, Give-A-Christmas, a 501c3 charitable organization, provides funding to CARE House of Oakland County, Boys & Girls Clubs of Oakland & Macomb, and The Welcome Inn day warming center for the homeless.

Give-A-Christmas was founded by The Oakland Press’ sister paper The Daily Tribune 28 years ago to provide executive directors of charitable organizations with money for needs that fell outside their budgets and that they had no other way of filling.

This year, for the first time, donations can be made by going online to crowdrise.com/2013giveachristmas. Brief memorials or holiday greetings for publication should be written under donor comments. Please note if you want to remain anonymous.

Or send your memorial or holiday greeting, along with a check payable to “Give-A-Christmas Year Around, and mail to Give-A-Christmas 1545 E. Lincoln Ave. Royal Oak MI 48067.

About the Author

Jeanne Towar, the retired editorial VP of HomeTown Communications / publisher of Birmingham-Bloomfield Eccentric, was named in Crain’s Detroit Business “100 Most Influential Women in Metro Detroit.” Reach the author at jeanne.towar@gmail.com
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